Wednesday, December 12, 2012

So, as part of thingies for ze uzzer blog, I posted this. And it's totally worthy of crossposting, and proof that I HAVE TOO BEEN COOKING!

I have been cooking a LOT. I have invented recipes and adapted
recipes, found a new favourite chocolate cake and, my biggest
achievement in the kitchen, become a good maker of south Indian food. In
fact, with the copious demands from the Poo and Kutti, I am toying with
calling myself the Idlimaker of Alaknanda. Hee. So without further ado,
I present to you the idli/dosai and chutney.

Soak
for 6-8 hours at least the urad in lots of water in one bowl, and the
rest in lots of water in another one. Now grind them in a mixie that has
steel jars, as follows. Use as little water as possible at the
beginning. The urad happens in one shot, and the rice in two. You will
have to stick figners in there and feel the texture. The urad is done
when it's super smooth and gooey. In fact if you can keep the water to a
minimum you will find it won't stick to the sides of the micie or to a
spoon, and that you can use for vadai. It is even more important that
the rice be ground dry as much as possible first, because once there's
water in it, it won't become a paste very easily. This part of the maavu
can be s little grainy--no problem. Mix the two up in a large bowl--the
mixture shouldn't come to much more than half the bowl. Cover and leave
in a warm place overnight to ferment. This can be tricky in the summer
cos it'll get really sour, and in the winter, cos it won't rise. For the
former, try and keep an eye on it and for the latter, if you have an
oven, turn it on for 5 minutes at lowest setting, turn it off and bung
the maavu in. Another thing that works for me is to keep it in the sun,
but that involves being there to keep an eye on it. Salt to taste after
fermentation.

To make idlis, keep it thick--just about
pourable. For dosais, you need more water, definitely pouring
consistency. This is sadly one place where you have to experiment and
find your mojo.

For the green chutney of death:
Half a medium coconut, grated or chopped small
About
the same amount of pottu kadalai (This is basically roasted chana dal,
so you can actually just roast some chana dal with a little oil at home
as a substitute)
One bunch of coriander leaves
2-3 green chillies, de-seeded (this is actually up to you, make it as hot as you like, or not)
A small piece of tamarind, say the area of the top segment of your index finger (see what I mean about quantifying?)
Half a small onion
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
2-3 dried red chillies
10-12 Curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida (hing/peringayam) (well a shake, cos it comes in those little bottles here)
Salt to taste

If
the coconut is chopped not grated, whizz it in the mixie till it looks
grated. Add the kadalai and whizz till they are nicely ground up. No
water just yet! Toss in everything up to the onion and whizz some more.
Now you can add water in small amounts till the chutney is as
chutneyfied as you like it. (I like it smooth, Amma likes it chunky.)
Now heat the oil in a really small pan, or, if you have it, a tadka pan.
When it's hot, toss in mustard. When the seeds start to pop, toss in
urad. Once it starts to brown, toss in chillies and hing. Once chillies
are looking cooked, and before anything burns, toss in the curry leaves
and add the tadka to the chutney. Voila!